The first two and a half months back in China have been fast-paced but fairly decent if I examine the experience holistically. It was a little dull for the first few weeks back, considering a large number of my close friends chose not to renew their contracts from last year, but those of us remaining quickly formed new bonds and there have been some good times had by all of us now. The school itself is causing some headaches among staff and students alike. As of this year, the new school across the street opened and became the girls' campus, while [View Full Entry]

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Four weeks in Canada have flown by. My trip from Thailand left me exhausted and over-tired, but on arriving (after flying Bangkok-Beijing-Dalian-Tokyo-Vancouver), I was perkier than I thought I would be, and immediately lunched with the ever-wonderful Jocelyn and Dee, lay on the beach in Kitsilano staring at the mountains, and then having a few drinks and watching the fireworks before crashing at 11pm. I spent my first few days back in my homeland sunning, drinking, and eating--quite the luxurious holiday! From Vancouver I travelled to Northern Alberta where I visited the prettiest pregnant lady you ever did see, my splendid [View Full Entry]

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The first three weeks of summer holidays I spent in Thailand with my Belgium friend, Sophie. We met around 1am in Bangkok, at her friend Vincent's apartment. We spent only 2 days in Bangkok as I had already been and Sophie had two days at the end of our trip, so we spent the time touring the neighbourhood where Vincent lives, Suhkumvit (I appologize for any spelling errors when it comes to place names), took the boat up the Klongs, went to the reclining Buddha, and shopping on Khao San Road. Our first destination of the trip was to Chiang Mai. [View Full Entry]

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The months since the spring holiday have been filled with visits, weekend trips, and surprising changes. My delightful parents came for a three week visit and toured me around Qingdao (home of the 2008 Olympic sailing port) and Dandong (directly on North Korea's shores); I partook in a glamourous photo shoot that lasted 10 hours without food and learned a model's life isn't actually as easy as it looks (photos to be added later this week); and I accepted a position as co-department head for English 10 in September (where I will be heading the boy's campus). My parents, if anything [View Full Entry]

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Mundanity? I feel as though it suits what the past couple of months have been since returning from holiday. I was sick with a lung infection for about 4 weeks (check out my exciting lung x-ray in the photos), and this weekend I was finally struck by a rather horrific stomach bug that has been plaguing our school. It was the first weekend I finally felt well enough to go out since my lung infection, so I was all dressed up, and headed by cab into Dalian, only to arrive at the bar where my friends were meeting to discover that [View Full Entry]

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The five week break from school flew by, leaving me with a whirlwind of memories from the places I visited across Southeast Asia. I'll give a very condensed version of events, and let some of the pictures do the talking. We left Dalian on January 19th, and flew to Hangzhou, just outside of Shanghai. While we were really only there a few hours (discounting sleep), we managed to squeeze in a boatride across the picturesque (and famous) lake before heading out to the airport to catch our plane to Kuala Lumpur. I'd never travelled with a group of teachers before, and [View Full Entry]

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I worked hard to bring Christmas to China when I was packing for this journey in the summer. I sent a box that had a stocking, several familiar ornaments, and a box of Stovetop stuffing with gravy; I downloaded Christmas CDs and stocked up on red pillowcases and tea towels (I'm slightly Martha Stewart). I pictured using a plant as a Christmas tree. As it turned out, Christmas is alive and kicking in China, from the pop-up Christmas cards in Trustmart to the Elf-clad waiters in Pizza Hut (which, by the way, I never entered, but saw from the outside). I [View Full Entry]

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It's been a LONG time since I last wrote, and nothing I've written has really been of substance. This won't be any different. I've been living off-campus in Kai Fa Qualmost a month now (almost 4 months in China as of next week), and it's been great--I don't even mind the 35 minute commute. I take the light rail train into Jinshitan, which, first thing in the morning, isn't bad. I have the company of a few other teachers in the area, as well. The only thing I'm not fond of is commuting home on Mondays (when we teach until 4.40), [View Full Entry]

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As of today, I have a new home in China. I went to view three apartments today, and the third--on the twenty-third floor of a year-old buidling, was the winner. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two floors, with views to the ocean, the city skyline, and the mountains (as well as one giant apartment building directly in front of me, but who notices that?). The apartment has never been lived in, and is unfurnished, so as part of the rental agreement, the landlords will take me shopping for the new furniture, which will really make it feel like home! [View Full Entry]

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It's been a while since I've written, and the reason for this is due to the frenetic pace of the classes (and marking) that we've had as of late. The classes are starting to feel more comfortable to me (despite the stress of the end of term and first report cards looming). I've finished teaching one full term of art and drama and now the kids in each respective section switch to whichever course (art or drama) that they haven't had and I teach the whole thing over again until next semester when I get a whole new group of kids. [View Full Entry]

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